nb Bridge Street

Monday 30 th December 2019 Although Brenda’s mouth is now uncomfortable rather than painful, and the swelling largely subsided, she went to the pharmacy in Middlewich Road while I walked to B&Q’s. We then moved, hoping to find a mooring at Bramble Cutting, but not before two boats passed heading in the same direction. Luckily both turned into Oakwood Marina. We then both started to get quite anxious in case the moorings at Bramble were full. We need not have worried, the moorings were actually empty and so we moored right at the Middlewich end where, even if another boat arrived, we would enjoy an interrupted view from the front cratch. View from the Back End at Bramble Cutting We opened a bottle of Prosecco and spent an hour glorying in the views until another boat moored. Bramble Cutting has to be our favourite mooring spot and will always be a special place for us although this time, the ground is satu...

Sunday 29 th December 2019 Brenda had a shocking night’s sleep after chipping a tooth, resulting in the side of her face swelling and the beginning of earache. Fortunately, as the day progressed, the pain abated and the swelling reduced, but a visit to a pharmacy will still be required on Monday morning. We left the mooring quite early for a slow cruise down to Anderton, winding at the Boat Lift and passing, en-route, Ken and Astrid on Susie. After stopping for coal at Anderton Marina, we again filled with water at the service station. Being unsure as to how long we will spend at Bramble Cutting, it seemed prudent. The canal side at the service station was a muddy quagmire and the hose full of mud at the end of filling. CRT spend so much money on towpath upgrades for the benefit of walkers, you would have thought they would maintain this to a better standard for the use of boaters. While filling, we saw Paul and Dawn emerge from Anderton Marina, heading for the Broken ...

Saturday 28 th December 2019 We were very excited today, to be moving again as we want to be at Bramble Cutting for New Year, as we had intended ever since deciding to spend the winter in and around Middlewich. We have been moored at the Middlewich Narrowboat site for 22 nights, the longest we have yet spent in any one place, and have run the engine for 23.1 hours in that time, to charge the batteries and produce hot water. We were beginning to suffer from Tilleritis. Being very short on coal, I went to Kings Lock Chandlery only to find them closed until 6th January. However, Anderton Marina sell coal so we will have to run there, further than we wanted to go but, unless we meet a fuel boat en-route, there is little option. A small boat has been moored just down the canal from us and, although now being here for 22 days, nobody had been near this boat. Over Christmas some scrote had untied her and she had drifted onto the opposite bank and only today, had started movin...

Christmas Day (continued) This is our second Christmas aboard Bridge Street, but one very different to last year when there was just the two of us, moored at Stoke Golding on the Ashby Canal. This year we are still sat at the Middlewich Narrowboats site. We have been in Middlewich, our past home for 20 years, since the beginning of November apart from a few runs out. It has been nice to see the grandkids and catch up with friends. While moored up at Middlewich, there really has not been much to report, a normal life albeit whilst living on a boat. We have had a few days out to Northwich travelling by bus. The car journey would normally take about 15 minutes, by bus it is an hour, but the longest it has taken has been 2 ½ hours. Quite often, at the end of another seemingly busy day, we ask ourselves what we have done today. Retirement is a bitch and you wonder how you fitted everything into a working life. A few jobs have been done around the boat and at Trace...

Christmas Day 2019 A Very Merry Christmas to one and all. The boat is decorated inside with many lights, some small living Christmas trees that have been decorated and bits of tinsel. Outside there are lights all down the roof and atop the cratch cover and pram hood, with a lighted wreath on the cratch front and a floral decoration attached to the tiller.

Monday 9 th December 2019 Tracey’s mother’s husband died at their home in Spain, so Tracey flew over to support her mother and again for the funeral. During this time, we had the kids quite a lot so Brenda rang CRT to request an extension to our stay. This they duly did without fuss and we can now stay here until 1 st January. This takes any pressure off having to move. CRT are very good in these cases, if they are kept notified of any requests rather than just over-staying.

Friday 6 th December 2019 We left the mooring above the River Wheelock for the short run into Middlewich where we watered up before mooring at the site of Middlewich Narrowboats again. On the way down, we again passed our old house in St. Annes Road. A strange feeling. Weather: wet and generally miserable.   Day Total: 1 lock; 1 mile; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges; 0 Boat Lift; Day’s running hours 3.1                            (including running for hot water etc)                Overall Total: 854 locks; 1469 miles; 53 tunnels; 61 Swing Bridges; 17 Lift Bridges; 2 Boat Lifts; total engine running hours 932.1

Thursday 5 th December 2019 Brenda made appointments at the doctor’s while I walked up to Aquafax for some bits I had ordered, 20mm lacing eyes for fixing cabin strings to on the side of the boat. The remainder of the day, we sat watching TV, the day was not nice, wet and windy. The evening saw us in the Kings Lock meeting up with Pete Ramsey. It was good to catch up.

Wednesday 4 th December 2019 We had really enjoyed our stay above the flashes although we didn’t quite have the mooring all to ourselves. Last night another boat moored at the far end of the moorings. We almost begrudged them. It was still cold when we left the mooring, although the ice had cleared. Or so we thought. Just after the railway bridges we came across patches of ice right across the canal which we had to break through. While only thin, it will still remove the blackening. We passed through Stanthorne Lock and moored shortly after, right above the site of the 2018 breach at the River Wheelock Aqueduct. The breach in the canal occurred on the night of 15/16 th March 2018. The section that breached carried the canal over the River Wheelock on an embankment approx. 50 feet high and about 50 feet of the embankment completely disappeared, taking with it numerous trees including three big Oak trees. There were several theories as to how the breach occurred, inc...

Tuesday 3 rd December 2019 It was a glorious morning with a ground mist that light up as the sun rose. A sharp frost but not as cold as the last few days, with the ice on the canal just a few millimetres thick. Apart from taking the dog out, we had a very lazy start and didn’t get out of bed until the morning was well on. After bacon butties, we went out for a walk down the embankment and along the banks of the River Weaver. It was a lovely day for a walk. Back at the boat, we opened a couple of bottles of beer and stood on the back end just drinking in these views, with the colours on the trees ever changing as the sun lowered in the sky. Once the sun started to go down, it became suddenly very cold, so we battened down. The boat always seems cosy on days like today when it is cold outside and snug inside.

Monday 2 nd December 2019 Kenny and Sue left at 10am, headed back into Middlewich while we had decided to stay a few more days. The day was very frosty again, another white world with ice on the canal. However, as the day wore on it obviously warmed up, the grass thawed out leading to a muddy towpath and the ice cleared from the canal. We largely had a nothing kind of day, enjoying the peace, quiet and solitude. Just a shame about the trains rumbling past on the Main West Coast Line just across a field from us. Brenda sorted out her bedroom vanity unit and the wardrobe, while I did some ordering with more improvements in mind. Some 12V USB chargers and a small 12V computer type fan. The USB chargers will enable us to charge items without having to switch the inverter on. The inverter converts the 12V dc power to 240V ac that supplies the mains sockets on the boat, that have integral USB charging ports. With the exception of the washing machine, the inverter itself i...

Sunday 1 st December 2019 White Rabbits for the first of the month, and a White World. Quite a surprise though, with the canal frozen over. While the ice was only thin, it is a worry. Usually a body of water will retain heat well into the winter before losing so much that it will freeze. The only ice we experienced last year, was in February. With at least another 3months of winter left, it does not bode well. We did not leave the mooring until after 10am.By this time a few boats had passed, breaking the ice, and the canal had thawed as much as it was going too. Cholmondeston Lock had to be treated with great care due to the stone work being slippery. Just last week a 74-year-old guy had fallen head first down the stone steps beside the lock and had to be treated in hospital. At Venetian Marina we fuelled up and bought a bag of coal. We had been hoping to meet with the fuel boat Halsall and, although it was at Calveley when we passed through, there was nobody on boar...

Saturday 30 th November 2019 A very hard frost overnight and a white world this morning. While taking Harvey out first thing, there was a group of guys marking out pitches for a fishing match. When it came time to leave, there were fishermen in front of us and behind. We must have been very popular with them. However, the moorings at the Shady Oak are very popular and, while there were not many boats at this time of year, this fishing competition took up all the moorings, with 14 fishermen positioned between Wharton’s Lock and the bridge beside the pub, and 7 more beyond the bridge. CRT’s policy regarding fishermen nowadays, is first come-first served, so the fishermen would take priority over any boats wanting to moor, and a country pub would lose business. The day remained very cold but, once the sun came out, it was a lovely, crispy clear day. We worked our way back up the locks, seeing a hire boat getting ...

Friday 29 th November 2019 The roof was encrusted in ice this morning and Harvey was on the bed early with the cold. We left the mooring at 9am, winding beside Cow Lane Bridge and heading out of Chester. Although very cold to begin, the sun was shining brightly. We passed through the now familiar locks gradually climbing out of the city. Then followed the 8-mile lock-free cruise to the Shady Oak pub where we moored just below Wharton’s Lock. We called into the pub, recently refurbished to a high standard and looking much better for it. The barmaid lives on a boat in Tattenhall Marina, beside the boat that was fitted out after Bridge Street. It seems they too, have had a lot of issues and are still requiring visits from the builder for remedial work. All too familiar. Weather: very cold and frosty with bright sunshine.   Day Total: 5 locks; 10 miles; 0 Tunnels; 0 Swing Bridges; 0 Lift Bridges...

Tuesday 26 th to Thursday 28 th November 2019 Chester should not need any introduction. A Roman city with Medieval Walls, 2-storey Medieval shopping galleries and a lot of history. It was a major sea port until silting of the River Dee gradually moved the port downriver to Neston and Parkgate, before Liverpool gained prominence in the 18 th century. We like to explore a canal from one end to another and so will be returning to Chester once the winter stoppages are lifted and we traverse the Shropshire Union Canal. In the meantime, this was a trip out with Kenny and Sue to visit the Christmas Markets. It took just 5 minutes to walk into the city centre and we took full advantage. We spent three days in Chester, enjoying the Christmas atmosphere, shops and the Christmas Market. The ‘Angel of Knives’ sculpture was on display outside the Cathedral. We last saw this in Coventry. The sculpture highlights knife crime and is made up of confiscated knives. Very poignant in th...